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Yet modest Paul played down his heroics - which saw him tend up to 30 people who suffered crash injuries during his AA work.

“I was often there before even the paramedics arrived,” he said, “so I have saved a couple of lives at work too.”

Despite Paul suffering from memory loss in recent years, he has never forgotten the life saving skills he learned back when he was 17.

“It’s like riding a bike,” he said.

“I learned from a relative, who was a nurse and I have kept up with my first aid training ever since

“When it comes to saving someone’s life, your instinct kicks in and takes over and you just don’t think about it.”

Paul recalled saving the life of his daughter Sophia, who had choked on a button. “She stopped breathing so I carried out back thrusts to clear her airways,” he said.

As for his other rescues, he said: “I’ve just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Dr Derek Connolly, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Birmingham City Hospital, who performed Fred’s emergency operation said: “There is no doubt that without Paul’s resuscitation efforts, Fred would not have survived.

“It is an amazing thing to do to save a life and I encourage everyone to consider basic resuscitation training.”